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A deeply compelling and poignant story about the tragic lessons of war and the endurance of memory.

In the last months of World War II, a man wakes in a field in a country he does not know. Injured and with only flashes of memory coming back to him, he pulls himself to his feet and starts to walk, setting out on an extraordinary journey in search of his home, his past, and himself.

His name is Owen. A war he has only a vague recollection of joining is in its dying days, and as he tries to get back to England, he becomes caught up in the flood of rootless people pouring through Europe. Among them is a teenage boy, and together they form an unlikely alliance as they cross battle-worn Germany.

When they meet a troubled young woman, tempers flare and scars are revealed as Owen gathers up the shattered pieces of his life. No one is as he remembers, not even himself. How can he truly return home when he hardly recalls what home is?

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"Told with aching realism, it is the story of one man's search for himself amidst the terror of war.... A gripping novel that will stay with you long after you have read the last page."―Sophia Whitfield, Culture Street

"A wide-reaching and poignant evocation of WWII and its landswept aftermath. Told in exquisite prose, Owen's journey builds to a powerful and yes devastating-finale. The most moving and gripping novel I've read in a long while."―Alex Preston, author of In Love and War

About the Author

Jason Hewitt is a novelist, playwright and actor. He was born in Oxford, and lives in London. His debut novel, The Dynamite Room, was long-listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Authors' Club First Novel Award.

Top customer reviews

After WWII there were 11.5 million refugees in Europe. Some were on the move back to their homelands, some were leaving to start over abroad, and some were fleeing because of their political alliances.

Jason Hewitt's Devastation Road is a chilling vision of the impact of war, the human toll when millions of lives are left without food or homes, separated from loved ones, struggling to survive. It is a mystery, a love story and a revelation of war's human cost.

A British soldier finds himself lost and without memory. His clothes don't fit. He has a button in his pocket, a torn piece of silky fabric, and a pain in his side. Snatches of images arise from his past but he can't construct them into a narrative.

He is in the company of a young Czech. As the boy leads him across a landscape of ruin they see war's legacy: utter devastation, starvation, the loss of moral codes or legal order, roads clogged with people on the move, a land where people will do anything to survive.

The soldier is moved to save a baby abandoned along the roadside. The mother follows and later joins them, saying she seeks the baby's father to give the baby to him. She is a victim of rape.

The book gains momentum. The soldier discovers he is not who he thinks he is, but also learns that the stories his companions tell are also fictions. The reader will be caught up in the story to learn the mystery behind these characters.

Hewitt has drawn upon historical events and places, bringing to light the destruction of Czechoslovakian during WWII. The camps, the resistance groups, and especially the millions displaced by war were all too real.

I love how new books about WWII are focusing on lesser-known aspects of the war. Some I have read include Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelley on Polish girls who became victims of Nazi experiments, Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleeves about both the London homefront and the embattled soldiers on Malta, War & Turpentine by Stephen Hertmans on The Rape of Belgium, and A Pledge of Silence by Florence Solomon about nurses in Manila taken prisoners of war.

Devastation Road reminds us of the human cost of war, any war, every war. I will not soon forget the images of a country destroyed and the suffering of millions who lost everything.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I enjoy reading historical fiction in general and actually have a special interest in any story related to WWII. Devastation Road sounded particularly interesting due to the fact that the main character has amnesia and I found myself really looking forward to read this novel. Devastation Road has received a lot of praise so far and I was expecting to be adding another positive review to the mix myself, but unfortunately I didn’t have the same reading experience as most people. First of all I want to make clear that the idea behind this story is without doubt fascinating: an English soldier in 1945 who has amnesia and doesn’t remember that last four years nor can retain new memories. I could also really appreciate the many descriptions of the places the characters passed through, flashbacks and historical details in general. But. And there is where the tricky part comes in… I REALLY struggled with the writing style. Instead of luring me in, the first pages and chapters only managed to frustrate me and disconnect me from the story with the constant repeat of he, he, he in the sentences. Somehow the prose didn’t flow and I had a hard time figuring out what was going on… This is possibly ment to portray the main character and his amnesia, but it made it really hard for me to properly enjoy the story. That said, apart from the writing style I found it also extremely hard to connect to the characters AND plot itself. It’s not that the main character aren’t intriguing and each has their own history, but somehow I found myself mostly detached from them. And while I normally love the use of foreign languages in a story, I think in the case of Janeck it only made it more difficult to connect to him. I mentioned the flow of the writing style before, and I think I had the same problem with the plot itself. The story goes from memory to present to past and completely different scenes without warning and although this once again can be seen as a representation of amnesia, I found myself really struggling to keep track instead. Devastation Road had all the signs of being an excellent read and the problem might have been just me since so many seem to love this story, but unfortunately I struggled along with the characters to reach the final page. And I still feel kind of sad I wasn’t able to enjoy it more.

This story is set in Europe near the end of WWII and follows one Englishman as he sets out on a journey to uncover the memories that seem buried just beyond his reach and the country he knows he calls home.

The writing is direct and precise. The prose is stunningly vivid. The characters are strong, damaged, lonely, and real. And the plot is a heartrending tale that gives us a unique view into the struggles, hardships, and horrors felt by all during this heinous time in history.

This truly is a powerful story which will resonate with you long after you finish the final page and is a good reminder of some of the stories we don’t always hear but are devastating nevertheless.